The biggest tech fails of 2017

Google Tango: It takes more than two

Google Tango is a fail because it was overly ambitious. While the rear-mounted tri-cam system was indeed a big step forward for phone-powered augmented reality, the technology launched on only two midtier phones: the Lenovo Phab Pro and the Asus Zenfone AR.

Before Google could push the technology any further, Apple announced its ARKit technology, which essentially turned most iPhones into AR machines without the fancy three-camera system.

Not surprisingly, Google scrapped Tango in favor of the company's own ARCore. This technology will bring augmented reality apps to a wider range of phones, including the Google Pixel, Pixel 2 Devices and the Galaxy S8.

Juicero!

Squeezed out: widely mocked startup Juicero is shutting down

It raised $120 million dollars from investors to produce a $400 machine that would “squeeze” prepackaged fruits and veggies for a glass of fresh juice. Sound good?

Well, it did until people realized they could squeeze those packets with their hands and make the same juice. No machine needed.

The entire company was terribly mocked…not helped by the fact that the founder compared himself to Steve Jobs.

Oh my, what a mess that was.

SNAP:
From decelerating growth to Instagram copying them in step, to the ill-timed IPO, Snapchat had a nightmare 2017. Thankfully, anyone with an ounce of common sense avoided their stock offering like the plague, but it probably doesn’t help the employees there.

Uber:
Continued legal cases, sexual harassment, a bit too much “bro culture”, the travel ban fiasco, and the incident with Waymo definitely left a mark on Uber in 2017.

Essential:
Shipping within 30 days? Sorry; it actually took 90. Valued at over $1 billion? Well, they sold about 5,000 units at $700 apiece. They’ve had to slash prices and offer rebates and discounts, despite having what is actually a really nice and very appealing product.